Description : Chris Drummy in Indo. Co-Starrring the Pork Chop Express AKA Sanssouci II
The Mentawai Islands are a chain of about seventy islands and islets off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Siberut (4,030 km²) is the largest of the islands. The other major islands are Sipura, North Pagai (Pagai Utara) and South Pagai (Pagai Selatan). The islands lie approximately 150 km off the Sumatran coast, across the Mentawai Strait. The indigenous inhabitants of the islands are known as the Mentawai people. The Mentawai Islands have become a noted destination for surfing.
Ecology
Mentawai Islands topography
The islands have been separated from Sumatra since the mid-Pleistocene period, which has allowed at least twenty endemic species to develop amongst its flora and fauna. This includes five endemic primates: the Mentawai or kloss gibbon (Hylobates klossii), Mentawai macaque (Macaca pagensis), Siberut macaque (Macaca siberu), Mentawai leaf monkey (Presbytis potenziani), and pig-tailed langur (Simias concolor). They are highly endangered due to logging, unsustainable hunting, and conversion of rainforest to palm oil plantations.[2] Some areas of the Mentawai Islands rain forest ecoregion are protected, such as the Siberut National Park. Red junglefowl and crab-eating macaque are also native.